Theater of The Absurd And Sexy Film Noir

The Triangle Theater Company gives The Well of Horniness, Holly Hughes hilarious satire of female and male sexuality and gender roles, the brilliant production it deserves. The noir-ish subject of the play is highlighted by zoot suit costumes, smoky ambiance and tricky lighting. Hughes' jokes are delivered with alacrity and the actors keep up with the fast-paced wit.

Even before the play begins, and as people are taking their seats, catchy tunes by female singers are piped in. This leads audience members to become so comfortable that they sing along, especially for a tune like Nancy Sinatra's "These Boots are Made for Walkin." Similarly, at the end of the performance, when the actors have disrobed and are standing in their bras and underwear dancing and bobbing around to Cindy Lauper's "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun," the theater is transformed into a party.

The Well of Horniness, as the wise-cracking narrator puts it, is an exploration of the "septic tank of the soul." After this assertion there comes the loud sound of a toilet flushing, signaling the recklessly self-reflexive nature of this play. Practically every utterance is a sparkling one-liner, but the play juxtaposes the epigrams with other sly puns and double entendres so that the entire work is funny.

In addition to being a deft humorist, Hughes is also an intellectual and radical bandit. Chic but never showy, Hughes treats nothing as sacred in her clever analysis. At one point during a conversation, a pause ensues as the actors look deeply introspective. A voice over says, "You are now witnessing a Pinteresque pause. If this were a Pinter play, there would be a lot of these." There are also "commercials" during the play spoofing consumerism and suburbia.

The story line revolves around a love triangle involving a murder, stakeout, sentencing and jailing, but all of it is done in a tongue in cheek way. Each character is a subversive look at a stereotype. In examining such molds as the Kelly girl, the private detective, the codependent lover, the bobby socks-poodle skirt blonde, Hughes also assesses such images and then creates new ones. Accents and body language are mixed and transferred by the skilled actors. The subtext is continually brought to the surface and reconciled with the text or else dismissed, but in this case Hughes is responsible for everything she writes and never misses any of the implications.

The ensemble is composed entirely of women. About half of the roles are men and the actors are masculine without being exaggerated. It is fascinating to see the chemistry work in sultry scenes when you are convinced it is a man seducing a woman. Director Sandra Heffley has interpreted the roles with even-handedness. There are so many light changes and random chaotic scenes that the smoothness she has given to the production deserves kudos.

Hughes is one of America's foremost lesbian playwrights. She was tagged as one of the "N.E.A Four" when she and three other artists were denied grants in 1990 because their work was deemed too "obscene" by the National Endowment for the Arts. In The Well of Horniness there is plenty of chest-grabbing and even mock cunnilingus. Lesbians are referred to as "lezzies" or in one bon mot as "Lebanese." Perhaps what conservatives fear most in Hughes' work is her ability to mock them without seeming bitter or angry. However, humor is the best revenge and in the end Hughes has the last laugh.